Why Easton Cowan's OHL Performance is Exactly What the Toronto Maple Leafs Need
While the talk of the town is about the hiring of Craig Berube, every Toronto Maple Leafs fans needs to acknowledge the spectacular performance in the OHL by the Easton Cowan.
In fact, this is exactly what the Toronto MapLeafs franchise needed.
Cowan is the first player to be the OHL's regular season and playoff MVP in the same season…
Since… the Leafs own Mitch Marner, who also did it with the London Knights.
Why Easton Cowan's OHL Performance is Exactly What the Toronto Maple Leafs Need
While there is no guarantee Cowan will be on the 2024-25 Leafs roster, he will be going to the Toronto Maple Leafs training camp this fall with a lot of hype. He almost made it at the beginning of this season, if you recall. Both Cowan and fellow top prospect Fraser Minten had great training camps and the Leafs even gave Minten a short audition in the NHL.
If they weren't in win-now mode, they might have also auditioned Cowan who was as deserving as Minten was.
Cowanb may be an NHL longshot nexst year, but it surely doesn’t hurt to see why the Leafs could benefit from Cowan’s services should he crack the roster.
Cowan scored 10 goals, 24 assists for a total of 34 points in 18 playoff games. He had the third-most shots on goal during the post-season according to OHL.ca, and his 34 points were the highest not just in the OHL, but the CHL. The assists are also highest in the playoffs.
Should his performance transfer to the NHL-level, he seems like the ideal partner-in-crime for Auston Matthews who had the most shots on goal in the league in 2024.
In the OHL Finals, he had 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) on 22 powerplays on the Oshawa Generals. That’s a personal powerplay percentage of 45.5%.
The Generals meanwhile, had a regular season penalty-kill percentage of (drumroll please) … 83.2%.
It would be an understatement to say that’s impressive. Let’s also not forget the fact that he had 30 power-play assists in 54 regular season games. For a team like the Leafs, who were 4.8% on the powerplay this past postseason, Cowan would be very useful.
Cowan has mentioned previously that he was a fan of Marner. Marner had the most assists on the Leafs during 20204 Leafs season
With the talks about Marner possibly being dealt away. Cowan could possibly fill the void.
There is no question about Cowan’s ability to distribute the puck and let the rest be history.
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Where he plays next year is the uncertainty part, but one thing is for sure: he is firmly in the Leafs back pocket.